Being Good Can Be Great!

Here's an interesting post from Nick McCormick – author of Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager

Being Good Can Be Great!

When it comes to leadership management training, there is no shortage of superlatives. The mantra is EXCELLENCE. In fact, “goodness” actually gets a bad rap.

• Good is the enemy of the Great. 
• Good just isn’t good enough, anymore.

Superlatives make for good marketing, but, guess what? I wish a lot more people and companies were good at what they did as opposed to being mediocre or flat out poor.

• I wish when I called technical support to fix a problem with my PC the person at the other end of the line could actually answer my questions.
• I wish when I called the phone company and entered my account number I wouldn’t have to repeat it when I got transferred.
• I wish I could get a return phone call after leaving a message with ANYONE!

Good customer service would be great wouldn’t it? How about having a good manager? Wouldn’t that be great too? Think about it. What if your company had all good managers? Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t your company be one of the greatest companies around?

What would the collective impact be if we could move the mediocre managers to good managers? The payback would be absolutely enormous.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no reason to settle for good, if you’re at good right now. By all means go for Great! Shoot for the stars.

But don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re good when you’re not. Your rhetoric becomes fodder for the Dilbert comic strip. There’s nothing worse than a “leader” spouting off about excellence, when he can’t tie his own shoelaces.

You can’t be great if you don’t have a “good” foundation. You can’t abandon  fundamentals of leadership and expect to be enshrined in the leadership hall of fame. Get back to the basics.

• Adopt a serving attitude with your team members.
• Teach them.
• Provide honest and timely feedback.
• Listen.
• Treat people with respect.
• Embrace the Uncomfortable.
• Follow up.
• Set Goals, Plan, and Execute.

Do the little things - the things that matter day in and day out. Become a good manager Train others to do the same. Chances are good that greatness will follow.